Name: Croc Valley Camp
Address: Mfuwe, South Luangwa National Park, South Luangwa National Park, South Luangwa National Park, 10101, Zambia
Rating: 9

Elevator/lift

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Parking

Pets Not Allowed

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Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Croc Valley Camp

South Luangwa National Park

child-bed

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Location is really cool on the river and also loved the pool. I had to leave a 1 star review due to poor management and resolution of an issue we had with our morning game drive. Our game drive started well seeing an elephant really close up, however the next few hours were spent stopping and and starting our way around the park as the truck continued to cut out, eventually us needing to push start it multiple times. I'm not sure why the guide continued driving as if the truck was going to fix itself??Eventually it completely stopped and we had 1hr-1.5hrs waiting for another car to bring fuel!!!! We had assumed it was something serious, not running out of fuel!! We had spent 50US each through our tour company to spend the morning stopping and starting and pushing the truck to start it. After we refuelled we made our way back to the campsite doing a couple of loops by the gate looking for leopards. Other than the elephant, the other wildlife we saw was also in our campsite.

We immediately spoke with the staff at the campsite to inform them what had happened and over the afternoon they said they would need to speak to the manager and come back to us. We followed up several times during the day and got the same response with no resolution. We asked if we could have a discounted night drive at-least. Management didn't even bother to come back to us before going home for the night and was not present in the morning to discuss the issue. 

Of 14, only 3 people did the night drive (still full price) where as there would have been atleast 10 if management had at least talked with us. We were worried about wasting more money and the same problems happening. We couldn't use another provider without having to pay double for our accomodation*. We spoke to other guests at the park and they said they would have demanded a full refund. Really really disappointed in the service and experience as we were all really looking forward to South Luanga! Also, this made no business sense for them to behave like this as all we were asking for was a discount for the night drive, where we would have been spending another few hundred USD. Go figure.

* if you use a different game drive provider, Croc valley will double your accomodation costs!! With this mentality they should take more responsibility when their game drive provider's service was not at all acceptable. 

NOTE: Happy to adjust this review if management respond to my partners emails and provides us with a partial refund or some sort of resolution.

Really disappointed with the organised game drive and management

We came here since my son had been there recently as a backpacker and had a small shared room at a price you probably could not get elsewhere. Wanting a bit more I switched to one of the tent cabins with the full board option - which came out to even more than we paid for the much nicer place we ended staying at after one night at Croc Valley.  The leaking AC, nominal water in the shower, holes in the mosquito nets, a guard who made himself at home on our porch, intolerable food if you are over 25, and a very bored Safari guide had us checking out the next day. The kicker was they claimed we had reserved for multiple days when we went to check out - despite when we checked he said we would work it out later as we had paid a deposit for a smaller room - which was much less than our bill for the tent. Despite there only being a few people at the whole place they insisted on us paying for the whole time we "committed" and threatened to call the police if we did not pay for the extra days (we paid, knowing nothing about the Zambian police, they got us - congrats to them) Our stay at Flatdogs was such a contrast, and in fact almost the same price for an infinitely better experience.

Only if you are on an extremely low budget, and then probably not...

This is a nice budget to midrange camp & lodge with a swimming pool, decent food & a great view of the river but be careful with the game drive activity add-on as this was a huge disappointment and not rectified properly either. Our drive started off badly being 20 minutes late and progressively got worse as we actually ended up being 40 minutes late since the spotter (night drive) had been left behind in town so we had to back track. At the end of the evenings drive we broke down in the park & were so so fortunate that another vehicle was able to push start us. I wanted to discuss the experience with management but I feel like I was either ignored or they didn't want to front the matter which was very poor management/ownership. The place is fine BUT please be aware the game drives are not at a profesional level based on what we got

Good location but poor management/ownership

I absolutely loved my stay at Croc Valley. The camp is stunning and the staff are very friendly and helpful. I would recommend anyone who visits the South Luangwa to stay here for a few nights.

The game drives offered were amazing, saw leopard every day and lions very regularly. 

Awesome spot on the Luangwa River !

Solid work by Herbert, Martin and the Bernards. The team is really amazing! Very satisfied with all the safaris I've done with Bernard, I feel like he really understood how to deliver what people were wishing to see (if that's even possible). When it comes to the ecotents a mosquito net inside would've been great.

Great safaris with Bernard

A lovely camp on the edge of south luangwa national park. We spent 3 nights camping at Croc valley, and had front row seats to the river, with great views of the park. The camping is easy and comfortable and they offer a seating area and firewood. The restaurant and bar area is great for chilling out and catching a glimpse of the hippos ducking and diving in the river. The owner and staff are great and super helpful and can help with tours and tips in the area. Would recommend if passing through.

Great camping in the heart of South Luangwa

We had a lovely stay at Croc Valley. It is low season, so the lodge was very quiet, which means we had excellent service! So many people were available to help all the time. The accommodations were clean, though are starting to show wear (I have stayed here multiple times, so I think the wear is due to lack of guests/income the last few years). The river was lovely, food was good, only the monkeys get a thumbs down. 

A lovely camp along the river

Fantastic views from our campsite.  Friendly owners.  Bar area for evening sundowners and a pool for swimming.  Monkeys are an issue but if you are careful then shouldn’t bother you too much. We spent the night listening to the hippos in the river.

Amazing views on the river side

Right at the river bank of Luangwa and next to the park entrance, Croc valley is an ideal place for you to stay. My wife and I just visited Croc Valley, what an amazing place to stay. Friendly and helpful staff, always with a welcoming smile. And Herbert Mkanda makes sure you are enjoying your stay. With knowledgeable guides, game drives were the highlights of our stay. We managed to see the big four of the big five and loads of wild animals. I would recommend Croc Valley for your next safari holiday in South Luangwa national park, Zambia. As for myself am visiting again next year. Thanks Croc Valley and see you next year. 

Sandhia and Jonathan, UK

Simply Amazing, Croc Valley - South Luangwa 

I had a great time in South Luangwa NP and Croc Valley could be a good option for an affordable stay. 

The location is great and I enjoyed swimming in the pool between activities in the park. 

I booked two nights full-board and two nights just accommodation. On the first day of the full-board the guide didn’t appear to be the most inspiring but we luckily had great sightings! Both in the morning and in the evening I expected to spend more time in the park (we entered relatively late and left relatively early). 

Luckily the next day was much better! The park is amazing and even more so if you get the most out of it.

With full-board the meals were served in a separate space and the staff there were super friendly and attentive. It maybe isn’t the most atmospheric space and doesn’t have the river views.

With its location by the river I liked the bar / a la carte area more but the bar staff seemed a bit particular and parts of the place looked a bit tired and not that cosy. 

The whole setting gave me some ideas for possible improvement. Very simple things, like the lighting (color, type) for example, to make it all a bit more cosy. Very small investment.

I think they could also improve communication (internal and external). For other full-board guests, full-board initially wasn’t provided. This also seemed part of the reason why we left late on the first morning there (at first no breakfast provided to other guests).

Before my stay the place didn’t appear the most responsive to enquiries but the reception was super friendly. 

Overall I had a great time in South Luangwa NP! Croc Valley has a great location and I met very nice other travelers. But the place itself seemed to have some quite average features, therefore 3/5.

Croc Valley Camp

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